


our holographic universe.

by milominderbinder



Series: thirty days of skam fic [12]
Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Insomnia, Isak Is A Nerd, Living Together, M/M, Mentions of Mental Illness, Scientific Theories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 10:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11183655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milominderbinder/pseuds/milominderbinder
Summary: There are nights, when Even’s brain is too heavy and buzzing with bad things and he just needs to shut his own life out for a minute, where all he wants to do is listen to Isak talk about science. The way he does it, Isak makes science sound like poetry."Have you heard of the holographic universe theory?" Isak asks him one of those times, as they lay tangled around each other, Isak's head on Even's shoulder, both of them swathed in moonlight coming through the gap in their curtains. Even pretends to think about it as he twines one of Isak's curls around his finger.





	our holographic universe.

**Author's Note:**

> holographic universe theory that Isak talks about here is all a real thing! i’m v interested in it & the relationship to string theory, however pls bear in mind that here it has all been filtered through the mind of a starving art student (me) who hasn't taken a science class in six years (still me) and is also a lil dumb (also me) soooo u might wanna fact check everything in here if you're gonna take an interest in it yourself lmao

Isak is _such_ a nerd.

It's one of the most ridiculously endearing things about him, in Even’s opinion. Isak looks like such a typical _bro_ , in his snapbacks and Vans and sports jackets, and he's such a stoner, and he's got such a rag-tag group of friends. He's not the sort of person anyone would meet and think, _that boy is pulling straight sixes and studies at the weekends_.

The first time Even saw Isak, on his very first day at Nissan, he'd been captivated by a lot of things. The fluffy curls poking out of Isak’s hat, and his Cupid's bow lips, and the way he was sitting just a little bit apart from everyone else, looking a tiny bit on the outside. Even’s first thought was _that boy’s cute_ , and his next thought was _that boy might be interesting_. But it wasn't until later that day that he thought, _I need to meet that boy_ \-- when he walked past Isak once again and saw him hefting a heavy stack of Physics textbooks, Jonas next to him teasing “Bro, they're not gonna run out of _science_ if you don't learn it all right this minute.” 

Even has always had a bit of a thing for people who aren't what they first seem.  

And when he actually got to know Isak, of course, he was like some kind of impossible dream -- so _perfect_ , so full of hope and love and fascination with everything around him, so soft in the quiet moments and fun in the loud moments, so full of every interesting theory about the universe. There are nights, when Even’s brain is too heavy and buzzing with bad things and he just needs to shut his own life out for a minute, where all he wants to do is listen to Isak talk about science. The way he does it, Isak makes science sound like poetry. 

"Have you heard of the holographic universe theory?" Isak asks him one night, as they lay tangled around each other, Isak's head on Even's shoulder, both of them swathed in moonlight coming through the gap in their curtains. Even pretends to think about it as he twines one of Isak's curls around his finger.  
  
"Hmmm," he replies, thoughtful. “Is that some philosophical theory like, how do we know we’re not just a brain in a jar and everything we see around us isn't just a hologram being projected into our brains by a race of super intelligent mice doing experiments on us?”

Isak huffs out a laugh, his breath landing hot on the side of Even’s chest. “ _No_. It's science. You've heard of string theory, right?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Even has heard of string theory. He's definitely at least heard the _words_ string theory. It's some sort of Ultimate Science phrase that only smart people are meant to understand, and he's pretty sure it was discovered by Einstein. Or maybe Isaac Newton. 

He takes that moment to store away the nickname _Isak Newton_ for future use.

“Well, the holographic principle is sort of to do with that.” Isak’s voice is quiet, but it somehow seems to fill up the whole room, and the whole of Even’s mind as well. “There's this proposal that -- okay, so say you take a chunk of the universe, yeah? It doesn't matter what part, but according to the holographic principle, all the information contained _within_ that chunk is equivalent to how much can be defined on its surface area. Like, everything within a space can be explained on the surface of that space. So, imagine if you were living in a house, and it was completely filled with cameras so there wasn't a single blind spot, and those cameras projected absolutely everything you did on the outside walls -- except, it wasn't just images, it was _every_ piece of information inside the house. You get it?”

Even just nods, the motion rocking both their bodies back and forth. When Isak's talking like this, Even doesn't stress about trying to understand him, necessarily. Even doesn't really know what string theory is, or the probable depths of the scientific definition of ‘information’ -- he can't always understand that side of it, but he can try and understand the way it makes Isak _feel_ , and the way he applies it to life.

"I mean, it's so interesting just from a physics point of view, but it brings up some really interesting things about our world. I guess it is a bit philosophical, in a way. Like, how do we know we're not just -- that everything we see, know, even everything we _feel_ , isn't just a projection. That it's not just the surface-level view of something a billion -- or, an infinite amount of times deeper than what we think is going on."  
  
Isak pauses for a moment, then. Even doesn't really have anything to say, nothing he _wants_ to say, because he's just enjoying listening to Isak talk so much, so instead he smooths his hand up and down Isak’s back a few times, just waiting.  

"But I like it," Isak adds after a little bit more silence. His voice has calmed down from what Even calls his ‘scientific passionionate frenzy’ to his ‘scientific deep consideration’, and they're both equally as cute. “I like the idea that, you know, from a totally scientific point of view, there could be so much going on at every single point in the universe that we won't ever know about. I think once you accept that you'll never know everything, it's easy to stop stressing like you _need_ to know everything. Then you can just sit back and chill, and enjoy figuring out the stuff that we _are_ able to prove.”  
  
When he's done talking, Isak cuddles closer into Even’s shoulder, huffing out a warm breath against the bare skin of Even’s collarbone. 

"I love your brain," Even says quietly. He takes both his hands and fits them around the sides of Isak's head, squeezing it like an object of fascination until Isak is laughing and trying to push him off. Even switches to pressing kisses across his hairline instead.  
  
"Not as much as I love _your_ brain." Isak's voice has turned soft, wide-open and trusting and vulnerable, the way he only ever sounds when they're alone in bed in the middle of the night -- nothing guarded between them. Even's heart hurts a little.  
  
"Nah," he says, trying to sound light but only getting halfway there. "Your brain is a lot more loveable than mine."  
  
"That's not true," Isak says, his response immediate and so incredibly _certain_. He pushes his head up off Even's chest and leans onto his elbows on the mattress, just so he can stare right into Even's eyes. "That's not true at all. Your brain is amazing."  
  
And Even -- no matter the endlessly complicated relationship Even might have with his own mind on the best of days, Even just doesn't have it in him to argue with Isak when he says stuff like that. 

“I love you,” he mumbles instead, rolling over until their noses are brushing together and then stretching his lips up for a soft kiss. “My little nerd.”

**Author's Note:**

> yet another installment in 'isak and even cuddle in bed and have deep conversations', oops. lemme know if you liked it!!
> 
> also on my tumblr [here!](http://milominderbindered.tumblr.com/post/161751357031/thirty-days-of-skam-fic-day-twelve-aka-isak-talks)


End file.
